NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE CRU_vF.docx

NOTICE OF INTENT TO SOLE SOURCE

This is a notice of intent to award a sole source contract in accordance with Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulations Overhaul (RFO) 12.102(a). Contracting Officers may solicit from one source if it is determined only one source is reasonably available to satisfy agency requirements, as supplemented with additional information in this notice.

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), Office of Acquisition Management (OAM), Shared Services Procurement Office (SSPO), located in Washington, D.C., intends to negotiate on a sole-source basis and award a purchase order to CRU International Ltd. (CRU) on behalf of the International Trade Administration (ITA), Office of Enforcement and Compliance (E&C).

This acquisition is being conducted under the authority permitting other than full and open competition in accordance with the Revolutionary Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Overhaul (RFO) 12.102 and in accordance with 41 U.S.C. 1901. This acquisition will result in a purchase order with a base 12-month period.

ITA requires a subscription to an on-line database of information on steel, aluminum, and copper production in specific facilities, companies, and countries, and provides detailed plant-level information to include cost drivers, production numbers, power usage, ownership information and technical parameters, allowing ITA to analyze U.S. facilities compared to other global facilities. Also required is an asset platform to allow the user to use the data to develop comparisons between facilities and regions to allow ITA to obtain an accurate representation of trends across these commodities in terms of granular costs of production by asset and by country. The CRU Asset Tool has become invaluable resources in several projects that require detailed company level/facility level information. The projects and portfolios below each explain how these tools are used by IMAU daily. These projects/dashboards include the Aluminum Country of Smelt Dashboard, Steel Melt and Pour Dashboard, Steel Executive Summary Report, Steel Country Reports, Steel and Aluminum Scrap Monitor, aluminum facility monitoring, steel related taskers, and IMAU Weekly Facts and Figures. Additional forthcoming project on copper import monitoring and global copper trade will rely heavily on CRU data. There are not comparable sources of information that are unified, comprehensive, direct-access, user-friendly or allow for standardized, transparent and global comparisons. When finalizing paperwork associated with this contract, we received comments from 4 independent associations (the American Iron and Steel Institute, the OECD Steel Committee, the Aluminum Association, and the International Aluminum Institute.) each of whom attested to the quality of the CRU and the lack of real competition.

-The proposed solution must incorporate the following features:

· The subscription shall be enterprise-wide with unlimited access to ITA employees. Access will be online only, with no need to download vendor software onto ITA computers. Access will be direct, meaning that users will be able to access the platform themselves, rather than request data from customer service representatives.

· The subscription must include a unique monthly crude steel production data that is not available in a timely manner in other data vendors and helps to calculate the import penetration of steel mill products in the U.S. and provide an analysis of the share of world crude steel production (relating to global overcapacity that harms U.S. industry and workers).

· The subscription must include plant level production data to include capacity, equipment information, cost information, operator and owner company names, employment figures and equity shares from across the globe, including on-the-ground teams in China.

· The data must be readily available in the context of relevant countries like China and Russia, about whom aluminum data is otherwise harder to access.

· The subscription must allow ITA to analyze essential and unique data (both historic, current, and predictive) on aluminum smelt (primary) facilities and aluminum rolling (secondary) facilities, providing detailed breakdowns on site costs, labor costs, material costs, energy costs, and energy sources – all factors that directly influence whether or not an aluminum smelter is financially viable as well as its ownership structure.

· The data must be reviewed and updated quarterly by the vendor.

· The subscription must provide the capability for the data to be exported to the user’s statistical software, primarily Excel and PowerBI.

· The subscription must include an asset platform which allows ITA to compare assets, companies and value chains on a like-for-like basis.

· The tool must provide visibility and functionality, with like-to-like comparisons of process-level emissions across assets and regions delivered quickly.

· The tool must allow the user to create interactive graphs and tables on a digital platform.

· The tool must allow the user to generate comparative insights with a dual perspective on costs and emissions.

· The subscription must give ITA access to vendor expert analysts in all sections of the globe that are available to engage with users to assist with interpreting the data and dynamics of the local markets and cross country and cross plant comparisons.

· The vendor must have a Help Desk to provide customer support locating data resources, the use of the emissions analysis tool and technical assistance as required. Should any erroneous data be discovered, it must be either augmented or corrected by the vendor within two business days.

· Redistribution of Data

· It is imperative that ITA be allowed to internally redistribute the data obtained from the vendor’s databases, including the public online publication visualizations and derivative analytical products. Additionally, ITA shall be able to share aggregated and sufficiently transformed data with outside entities with CRU’s approval. Clear documentation must be provided of the ability to redistribute and publish with the dataset.

· Place of Performance

· All data shall be available online 24/7 from any computer and be available for immediate download or analysis by the user.

As previously stated, this is NOT a solicitation for quotations, quotation abstracts, a request for competitive quotations, or a request for competitive proposals. There is no solicitation package available for review due to the Government’s intention to conduct this requirement as a sole source award. If a company determines that it can meet all requirements mentioned above, the company shall submit a written response within 10 days from the date of publication of this synopsis for it to be taken into consideration by the Government. Responses must clearly and thoroughly defend any claims or assertions that attempt to refute the Government’s claim. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed action based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.

Information received will normally be considered for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Information received on this notice must eliminate the Government’s concerns and address how the required services can be provided.

If no qualified/affirmative responses are received within 10 days of this notice to determine whether a qualified source is more advantageous to the Government, a contract will be awarded to CRU International Ltd.

Any questions regarding this notice must be submitted in writing via email to Tianna Snowden (tsnowden@doc.gov). Telephonic questions or requests are strongly discouraged.